More viewers watching NBA finals without Lakers

The Miami Heat's LeBron James goes up for a dunk during Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on June 2. The game, which Dallas won after a miraculous comeback, was the week's most-watched TV program. MIKE SEGAR, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

With viewership for its coverage of the first three games of the NBA Finals at its highest since 2004, even without the Los Angeles Lakers, ABC was the most-watched network for the first full week of television's summer season.

ABC averaged 7.67 million viewers for its prime-time programming May 30-June 5, taking three of the top four spots with the games between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, according to live-plus-same-day figures released Tuesday by The Nielsen Co.

Thursday's Game 2 was the week's most-watched program, averaging 15.52 million viewers. Through three games, the best-of-seven series is averaging 15.34 million viewers, 1 percent more than the 15.25 million viewers for the first three games of last year's finals between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.

NBC had the week's two most-watched programs outside the NBA Finals. The season premiere of "America's Got Talent" finished third, averaging 15.28 million viewers, the third-largest audience in its six seasons, behind only the last two finales. The singing competition "The Voice" was fifth, averaging a series-high 14.41 million viewers.

The Memorial Day premiere of the ABC documentary series "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" won its 10-11 p.m. time slot, averaging 7.11 million viewers, finishing 16th for the week.

The week's other premiere, the NBC comedy anthology "Love Bites" was third in its Thursday 10-11 p.m. time slot and 73rd for the week among programs on the five major broadcast networks.

Reruns of its scripted programming helped CBS finish second for the week, averaging 6.59 million viewers. NBC was third, averaging 5.61 million viewers, followed by Fox, which averaged 4.25 million viewers, and The CW, which averaged 930,000.

ABC was also the most-watched network among viewers ages 18-49, the group it, Fox and NBC target and advertisers covet.

ABC also led among viewers ages 12-17, 18-34 and 25-54. CBS was first among viewers age 50 and older, a group it has long dominated.

Two episodes of History's documentary series "Pawn Stars" finished 1-2 among the week's prime-time cable programs, topped by the 10 p.m. Wednesday episode, which averaged 5.23 million viewers, which would have put it 37th among the prime-time programs on broadcast television.

The end of its NBA playoff coverage also meant an end to TNT's four-week streak as the most-watched cable network in prime time. USA Network finished first, averaging 3.07 million viewers.

USA Network's most-watched program was the final 66-minute segment of the professional wrestling program "WWE Raw" on Memorial Day, which averaged 4.87 million viewers, third among the week's prime-time cable programs.

As usual, Univision was the most-watched Spanish-language network, averaging 3.61 million viewers for its prime-time programming. Telemundo was second, averaging 1.23 million viewers, followed by TeleFutura, which averaged 470,000 viewers, Azteca America, which averaged 200,000, and Estrella TV, which averaged 190,000.

Univision had 12 of the 13 most-watched Spanish-language prime-time programs, topped by Friday episode of the telenovela "Triunfo Del Amor," ("Triumph of Love"), which averaged 4.72 million viewers, which would have put it 39th among the programs on the five major English-language networks.

The "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" finished first among the network nightly newscasts for the 90th consecutive week and 137th time in the past 138 weeks, averaging 7.85 million viewers.

ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" was second, averaging 6.69 million viewers. The "CBS Evening News" anchored by Harry Smith, averaged 5.51 million viewers to finish third for the 245th consecutive week.

The weekly average for the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" excluded Monday because it was Memorial Day and Wednesday because of preemptions for Game 1 of hockey's Stanley Cup Finals.

The weekly average for ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" excluded Monday along with Tuesday and Thursday because of preemptions for coverage of the NBA Finals. The weekly average for the "CBS Evening News" excluded Monday.

NIELSEN PRIME-TIME RATINGS

Prime-time television viewership numbers compiled by The Nielsen Co. for May 30-June 5. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership for the week.

1. NBA Finals Game 2, ABC, 15.52 million viewers

2. NBA Finals Game 3, ABC, 15.34 million viewers

3. "America's Got Talent," NBC, 15.28 million viewers

4. NBA Finals Game 1, ABC, 15.17 million viewers

5. "The Voice," NBC, 14.41 million viewers

6. "NCIS," CBS, 11.31 million viewers

7. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 9.91 million viewers

8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.55 million viewers

9. "The Mentalist," CBS, 8.77 million viewers

10. "So You Think You Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 8.58 million viewers

11. "So You Think You Can Dance" (Thursday), Fox, 8.06 million viewers

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